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Speakers

Michael Berends, ClearBlue Markets, Toronto, Ontario

Michael is Managing Director at ClearBlue Markets and has over 15 years of experience in Carbon Markets, in particular with carbon pricing strategy, offset development and trading. Previous to ClearBlue, Michael worked at EcoSecurities, Barclays Capital, Vattenfall Energy Trading and ICL Ltd. Michael has executed thousands of carbon product deals, structuring transactions for offsets, allowances, and allowance related products in the primary and secondary carbon markets in over fifty countries. He has been supporting WCI compliance entities across Ontario, Quebec and California with their carbon positions since 2016. Working with the rest of the ClearBlue team, he has developed the carbon pricing strategies for numerous large and small emitters, and is also involved in the active management of their compliance positions, including both the sale and purchase of compliance instruments. Michael also supports clients with identification of carbon pricing related funding opportunities to assist with the reduction of GHG emissions. He holds a Masters Degree in Environmental Management from the University of Amsterdam and two degrees from the University of Toronto: a Master of Science in Conservation Biology and a Bachelor of Science in Biology.

Harry Kitchen, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario

Harry Kitchen is Professor Emeritus in the Economics Department at Trent University. Over the past thirty years, he has completed more than 80 articles, reports, studies, and books on a range of issues relating to local government expenditures, finance and governance in Canada and abroad. In addition, Professor Kitchen has served as a commissioner, advisor, and consultant for a number of municipal and provincial governments in Canada, the federal government in Canada, and has worked on projects in Russia and China. Much of his recent writing has concentrated on financing municipal services with a special emphasis on the structure and implementation of user fees, especially for financing public transit and transportation networks. Of interest for the Gas Tax Forum is his 2015 study on “A Case for Increasing Provincial Fuel Taxes”, prepared for the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario, and a subsequent commentary entitled “It is Time to Increase the Provincial Gas Tax”, in Public Sector Digest. Besides holding a BA and MA in economics from McMaster University, Harry was awarded a Queens Diamond Jubilee medal for his policy analysis and research contributions.

Julia Langer, The Atmospheric Fund, Toronto, Ontario

Julia Langer is the CEO of The Atmospheric Fund (TAF). She has held senior leadership positions in the environmental sector for nearly 30 years, managing campaigns and organizations, defining strategy and policy, and inspiring public and private action to address air pollution and climate change. Julia leads TAF’s staff in advancing the organization’s solutions to climate and air pollution, and with support from TAF’s Investment Committee, oversees the fiscal integrity of TAF’s endowment. Julia is a recipient of the 2016 Minister’s Award for Environmental Excellence for her environment and climate work and a member of the federal government’s Generation Energy Council. She is a year-round cyclist, avid gardener and wilderness canoeist.

Andy Manahan is the executive director of the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario. RCCAO was formed in late 2005 as a coalition of contractor associations and construction unions to speak with a stronger voice and offer solutions to government on infrastructure investment (including transit, roads, bridges, and water and sewers), regulatory reform and improving government procurement practices. To move this agenda forward, RCCAO has commissioned 46 independent research reports. Andy served on the 13-citizen Transit Investment Strategy Advisory Panel which presented its recommendations to former Premier Kathleen Wynne in 2013. Before joining the RCCAO, he was responsible for government relations at a major construction union based in Toronto. A frequent public speaker and writer, Andy has been interviewed by the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, National Post, CBC, Global Television, City and a TVO podcast; his writing has been published in a variety of mainstream and technical publications.

Dan McTeague, GasBuddy, Toronto, Ontario

Dan is a skilled and noted bilingual consumer advocate specializing in energy and current affairs. Known as Canada's “Gas Guru,” he founded tomorrowsgaspricetoday.com to better help motorists anticipate the price of gasoline in advance across Canada. He has over three decades of experience in the petroleum and automotive industries, as an analyst and as a Federal Member of Parliament.

Jason Parent, Kent Group Ltd., London, Ontario

Jason Parent is the Vice President of Consulting at Kent Group Ltd. His responsibilities encompass a range of project management roles, as well as the analysis and reporting of data for Kent Group clients. Jason’s functional specialties include the areas of regulatory analysis, petroleum market and price/margin analysis, forecasting and performance benchmarking. He has sixteen years’ experience in providing consulting and performance data analysis in the petroleum industry. This industry expertise is supported by a degree in Business Administration, having graduated with distinction. Jason plays a vital role in the management of relationships with Kent Group’s extensive client base, meeting their needs through a diverse range of services including consulting and custom project work, development of custom data delivery and reporting, as well as assisting clients in the development of specific project needs and deliverables.

Michael Roschlau is a strategic adviser in the field of public transit and urban mobility. His career has been dedicated to promoting efficient and effective public transit, most recently as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA). During his 29 years at CUTA, Michael became known as a strong advocate for public transit. Michael was instrumental in creating Transit Vision 2040 - a generational vision which has become a national blueprint for transit development in Canada. Whilst Michael was President & CEO of CUTA, government investment in Canadian public transit increased from $676 million to $4.3 billion annually. Since his retirement from CUTA in 2015, Michael has acted as strategic adviser to the Canadian Urban Transit Research & Innovation Consortium (CUTRIC), the Canadian Transit Heritage Foundation and Grande West Transportation. He holds a PhD in transport geography from the Australian National University, as well as a Master of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto.

Mayor Richard Walton FCPA is serving his fourth term as Mayor of North Vancouver District, and is in his 23rd year of elected public service. He currently sits on the Boards of Metro Vancouver, the BC Municipal Finance Association and TransLink, Metro Vancouver's regional transportation agency. He also is Vice Chair of the TransLink Mayors' Committee. In 2011 Mayor Walton received, on behalf of North Vancouver District, the United Nations Sasakawa Award for World Leadership in the area of Planning for and Responding to Natural Disasters; in 2013 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal for Distinguished Service to his community. Mayor Walton is a fellow of the Canadian Institute of Public Accountants, has taught and administered within the public school system, worked as an international tour guide in Scandinavia and Russia, and also served in senior management positions within the accounting profession and business. He holds a BA from UBC, an MA from Simon Fraser University, and is a member of the Canadian Institute of Corporate Directors.